To get a close-up of famous athletes' performances at the Olympic Games is the major reason thousands of people are attracted to sports venues. However, that is only part of the happiness for American spectator Jim Gradoville. His excitement comes right after he enters the venue and sees some familiar green technologies out there. Let's follow our reporter Du Lijun to learn more about his story.

Jim Gradoville is president of United Technologies International Operations China. He grew up in a family of sport lovers in the United States, and has lived in Beijing for about ten years. Though already in his 50s, he still plays some sports during his spare time.

On the big day of August 8 2008, he was at Beijing's National Stadium and witnessed the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

That moment rekindles his personal experience with the Olympic flame. He was a torchbearer when the flame traveled in central China's Hubei Province in early June. On that day, he was impressed by the locals' enthusiasm for the Olympics and could not help comparing it to an activity during his college life.

"We got on the bus in the morning. There was a group of 30 or so in the particular bus. We were the largest group of the run.

So we had to drive through the city, and as we would go by, you could see the crowd, just like a wave. The wave would go up when you went pass. So we were not torchbearers running in the street then, but we were connected with the crowd. I mean the people were really turned-on. I can refer to it as a Notre Dame pep rally on steroids. They were so pepped up."

The Water Cube and Bird's Nest have garnered worldwide media attention in the past two weeks, since new world records popped up one after another in the venues for swimming and track and field events. Gradoville says that is only part of the beauty of 2008 Olympics. In his opinion, this sporting event also distinguishes itself from others, due to the wide use of cutting-edge green technologies. He says his company is happy to get involved in this effort.

"The environment and energy are critically important, not only to China, but to the world. We work closely with the Ministry of Construction. We had a number of agreements and memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Environmental Protection."

Otis elevator and Carrier air conditioning systems are two renowned brands of the United Technologies. Soon after Beijing initiated the "Green Olympics" concept as its environmental commitment, Gradoville found his company's products could be combined with the world's biggest sporting event.

"We have the Carrier air conditioning system, which are chlorine-free. They are ozone protective. There is no ozone-depleting refrigerant used in our systems. The Water Cube uses that system, the Bird's Nest does that as well and 15 other Olympic sites do that too."

Apart from protecting the ozone, Gradoville says the Carrier system, which is based on advanced centrifugal chillers, will better utilize exhaust heat and adjust the temperature. In this way, athletes and spectators will feel more comfortable in the venues.

"The Water Cube is an example. It is really an interesting use of technology, because the air conditioning system works with the water in the swimming pool and they recycle. So it is very energy efficient and environmentally sound."

So far, Jim Gradoville has watched quite a few Olympic events on the spot, including badminton, fencing, volleyball, tennis, football, trampoline and gymnastics. Besides enjoying the stiff competition between athletes, Gradoville is also pleased to see many of the Olympic venues are using his company's products.

In Gradoville's opinion, China's "green Olympics" involves not only sports venues, but also the efforts of corporate citizens in China to reduce constraints on the environment.

He adds that China's fast paced urbanization requires more green buildings in the country. That provides a new opportunity for his company to work with the Chinese government to improve the quality of people's lives while easing the environmental impact.